Also listed on Unizeo Co., Ltd., an earlier holder on the record. The recorded assignments below show how it moved.
Term ends Jun 28, 2031 · Medium confidence
20-year base term ends Jun 28, 2031
Why Medium: The disclaimer's references carry disclaimers of their own not yet read (US 9,670,068), so the cap could be lower.
Held by Mitsui Kinzoku Company, Limited
Filed Apr 20, 2017 as application 15/492,318 · Granted Jun 2, 2020
Base term plus 2 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) · capped by a resolved terminal disclaimer
Today
2011
2031
Clock starts
Jun 28, 2011
Jun 28, 2011
Term ends
Jun 28, 2031
Jun 28, 2031
Granted
Jun 2, 2020
Jun 2, 2020
base term
fee events
Updated Nov 15, 2026 · includes USPTO assignment & status data published Nov 15, 2026 and grant & fee data published Nov 10, 2026 (weekly) · how we know
2
Days of term adjustment
Read from the USPTO patent term adjustment record, not recalculated here.
Capped
Terminal disclaimer
Resolved from the filed document, referencing US 10,479,692, US 9,670,068.
1 of 2
Maintenance fees paid
Two maintenance fees can end this term early, the ones due 3.5 and 7.5 years from grant; the third one's grace period runs past the term end. This counts the ones the record shows paid.
5
Family applications on record here
Applications sharing this one's continuity chain whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
This patent's term runs 2 days past its 20-year base term on prosecution delay. A terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document caps it earlier. 1 of 2 maintenance fees is paid so far. Confidence: Medium. from the record
How we calculated this date
One row per rule, each showing its own input and what it did to the date. A step we could not verify says so instead of resolving itself.
| Step | Input | Date after this step | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base term, 20 years from filing | Clock starts Jun 28, 2011, when application PCT/JP2011/064765, the earliest non-provisional in its chain, was filed (this one was filed Apr 20, 2017) | Jun 28, 2031 | High confidence |
| Continuity chain | Every parent in the chain resolved | no change | High confidence |
| Patent term adjustment | +2 days, USPTO patent term adjustment record | Jun 30, 2031 | High confidence |
| Terminal disclaimer cap | Disclaimer resolved from the filed document (refs US 10,479,692, US 9,670,068) | capped to Jun 28, 2031 | Medium confidence |
| Patent term extension | None on file | no change | High confidence |
| Fee events | 1 of 2 maintenance fees paid | In force | High confidence |
| Computed term end | The steps above, in order | Jun 28, 2031 | Medium confidence |
This family
| US 9,670,068 | In force no later than Jan 2034 | no later than Jan 2034 |
| Application 15/492,330 | Abandoned not computed | not computed |
| US 10,669,157 | this patent Jun 2031 | Jun 2031 |
| US 10,479,692 | In force Jun 2031 | Jun 2031 |
4 of 5 applications in this family shown, earliest filings first. The applications whose file history this site holds. The family may have others.
Assignments
Assignment documents as recorded at the USPTO, oldest first, with the reel and frame each was recorded at. A recorded assignment is a filed document, not a statement of current ownership, and the absence of a later one is not evidence that the last one still stands.
| Recorded | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 7, 2018 Reel 45133, frame 772 | Unizeo Co., Ltd. | Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. | Assignment of Assignor's Interest |
| Mar 31, 2026 Reel 75357, frame 342 | Mitsui Mining and Smelting Company, Limited | Mitsui Kinzoku Company, Limited | Change of Name |
Sources
Google Patents · The patent document at USPTO · Assignment records at USPTO
USPTO account required: This application in Patent Center · USPTO's maintenance fee lookup
Maintenance fee events come from USPTO's own fee records. Its fee lookup asks for the patent number and the application number.
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Alerts on its grants, lapses and transfers.
What's changing
Jun 2031
Term ends Jun 28, 2031. Maintenance fees still fall due before then
Note
The 2 days of patent term adjustment (USPTO delay) are read from the USPTO record, not recalculated by us
Disclaimer cap
This term is capped by a terminal disclaimer resolved from the filed document, referencing US 10,479,692, US 9,670,068.
Citations
1
later US patent cites this one
That is below the median of utility patents granted in 2020 in our data, the only group it is compared against.
How we rank
Every date shows its work: the base term, any term adjustment or extension, any disclaimer cap, and the maintenance fee record, each with a confidence tier. How this record was built
Computed patent terms end on the dates shown. Related patents and pending applications may cover overlapping subject matter.
In force means the term is running and no lapse is on record. It is not a finding that the patent is valid.